Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1887-01-22
LIFE AND WEALTH.

LIFE AND WEALTH..
Awell-to-Do Miner Loses Both In - -
fort to Find . Silver Deposit.
Antelope Charley. . noted Indian
hunter and trapper, brought into the
Shoshone Agency, in the northern Por-
tod of this Territory, not long ago,
human skull and handful Of silver
specimens almost pure in their charac-
tor. The ghastly relic and the bright
silver the Indian had found In =
deep mountain gorge of the Owl Creek
cd local landmarks. the Washaku Need
les. The skull was lying with its kim
dred portions Of = human skeleton, and
the silver ore was contained In Z mold
ering ard rotten buckskiR ..yaA.
held In the grasp Of bony hand. Ths
Indian lifted the sack from theshold Of
the skeletons fingers and it fell apart.
the glittering ore rolling upon the
ground amid the dry and bleaching
bones. Antelope Charley gathered up
the ore specimens, and taking tho
skull to verify his story, brought both
skull and ore into the agency. The
Indians tale aroused the recollec6ons
of several old-timers at the agency, and
furnished the key to half-forgotten
mystery of the mountain frontier. In
the spring Of 1873 there appeared in
the camp of party of prospectors To-
Gated in the shadow Of the Washaku
Needles man well equipped for pros
pecting. He was stranger and =
German, and soon became known to
the camp he joined as Dutch Joe. Like
most of his race he was industrious and
steady, and it was not long before
Dutch Joe became the most indefatig-
able prospector of the party.
No distance was too long for him to
traverse, no mountain journey too lone
some for him to undertakes; scaling
precipices and descending into can
yons, he searched the mountains far
and wide for the glittering ore ON
whose possession he had centered the
hopes of his life.
At last, late in the summer, he re-
turned to camp one evening from one
of his wild and rugged trips, wearing
an elated look, and it soon became
buzzed around that Dutch Joe had
| struck it rich. Beyond certain re-
! pressed triumph in his manner he was
reticent. He was watched closely, how
ever, and a prospector, dogging his
steps from camp the day after his re-
turn, saw him take from his bosom q
huckskin sack and pour it on a fair spot
of soil mass of silver specimens, whose
brittIeness and evident purity took the
| astonished watchman's breath away.
The lode those specimens came from
| must have been of fabulous richness.
Dutch Joe was now watched closer than
ever, with the intention of tracking him
to the mount tain treasure. But the suc-
cessful prospector was wary and suspi-
cious, and one day the spying camp
found that he had eluded its interested
vigilance and was gone. In vain he
was searched for. Not even trace Of
his departure could be found, and when
a few days afterwards furious noun
tain snowstorm set in the disappointed
plotters were forced to abandon tho
hunt and bid farewell to the hope OF
enriching themselves at Dutch Joe's
expense. But Dutch Joe was never
seen or heard of afterward. He and
his mountain treasure had alike van-
ished. The next spring came around
and brought neither Dutch Joe nor any
tiGiHgS OF Hitn. 1Ho Dett61 OSCdm0
general that he had perished in the
mountain storm Immediately following
his disappearance, but the story of the
lost prospector was long told around
frontier canp-fres, with many specu-
lations on the value of the silver treas
ure, of which he alone knew the loca-
ton. And now, thirteen years after
his disappearance, the discovery of the
Shoshone hunter comes to confirm the
fate of the lost prospector. He had
really perished in that winter storm.
and had kept with him to the last in the
grip of his horny fingers the buckskin
sack, with its precious contents. A
party of men went from the agency un-
der the guidance of Antelope Charley,
and gave the bones of the lost discov-
eA of the treasure Christian burial. a
strong effort will be made to find the
rich silver deposit for the sake of whose
riches Dutch Joe perished amid the
SHOWS of the Owl Mountains.-Laran,is
(Hy. T) Booanrdmg.
--
Good Story from Erapce